NORTH BERGEN – After renegotiating a deal with NJ Transit, the Port Authority will increase the rent the transit company pays on a PA park and ride lot in North Bergen, from a controversial $1 per year to a market rate of $875,000, according to a report in nj.com.
The annual lease payment had been $907,000 until February 2012, when it was dropped to $1 per year under PA Chairman David Samson.
At the time, concerns were raised that the deal represented a conflict of interest, since Samson’s law firm, then known as Wolff & Samson, had been retained since late 2010 by NJ Transit to help them maximize profits from their park and ride lots. The deal saved NJ Transit over $900,000 per year.
That deal seems to be history.
Samson resigned from his position at the Port Authority in the wake of the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal, amid investigations into his potential conflicts as chairman.
Current Chairman John Degnan announced on Thursday that the Port Authority had renegotiated the NJ Transit lease to $875,000, effective this month through 2018, pending board approval. The new amount is not retroactive for the past three years when NJ Transit only paid $1 annually.
The park and ride lot is located at the intersection of Routes 495 and 3 and has 750 parking spaces. Commuters pay $9.50 to park in the lot and ride a bus to the Port Authority terminal in Manhattan.
Port Authority increases NJ Transit lease deal from $1 per year to $875,000
